Activist Lisa Thomson readies lawn signs at her home in Norwalk, Conn. on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, to help launch NorwalkFirst Charter Revision campaign urging voters to reject four-year mayoral term. Meanwhile, signs are up, a website has been created and a political action committee are in place to convince voters to support the four-year mayoral term that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. less

Activist Lisa Thomson readies lawn signs at her home in Norwalk, Conn. on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, to help launch NorwalkFirst Charter Revision campaign urging voters to reject four-year mayoral term. ... more

Activist Lisa Thomson readies lawn signs at her home in Norwalk, Conn. on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, to help launch NorwalkFirst Charter Revision campaign urging voters to reject four-year mayoral term. Meanwhile, signs are up, a website has been created and a political action committee are in place to convince voters to support the four-year mayoral term that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. less

Activist Lisa Thomson readies lawn signs at her home in Norwalk, Conn. on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, to help launch NorwalkFirst Charter Revision campaign urging voters to reject four-year mayoral term. ... more

NORWALK — If you’re a Norwalk voter and undecided about whether the city should have a four-year mayoral term, two lobbying groups are working to sway you before Election Day, Nov. 8.

One favors a four-year term, the other doesn’t.

On Tuesday, three self-described city activists announced their campaign for “real” charter revision by launching a website (www.norwalkfirst.com) and posting lawn signs reading “VOTE NO. Do It Right or Not At All.”

Diane Cece and Deb Goldstein, both of East Norwalk, and Lisa Thomson of Rowayton describe the campaign as a grassroots effort to educate voters and “push for charter revision that benefits residents and taxpayers, not just politicians.”

“This was designed by politicians for politicians,” said Thomson, an unaffiliated voter, of the current charter revision proposal. “What’s the difference between an 11-4 Democratic or 11-4 Republican council majority? Absolutely nothing.”

In July, the Common Council finalized the wording of the four questions that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot: Shall the term of the Mayor and Town Clerk be changed from 2 to 4 years? Shall the offices of City Treasurer, City Sheriff, and Selectman be eliminated? Shall the annual salary of each Common Council member be set at two (2%) of the base salary of the Mayor? Should all Charter references be gender-neutral?

The activists say the council, when forming the Charter Revision Commission, had the opportunity to “bring the city, with an annual operating and capital budget of ~$366M into the 21st Century.”

Cece lent her support to a four-year mayoral term but not as it is now being put to voters.

“I’m for four-year terms but not this way, not effective in a 2017 election,” Cece said. “You have an incumbent mayor presumed to be running again who would have the benefit of a four-year term. It should have been effective in 2019.”

Goldstein described the proposed charter revisions as largely symbolic changes that would lessen accountability.

“In a city that has lurched from one land-use controversy to another over the last five years,” Goldstein wrote, “it is irresponsible to carry out a process that required multiple public meetings and working sessions, produced a 177-page report, and used the precious resources required for ballot referenda, only to lessen electoral accountability for the city’s top elected official and implement largely symbolic changes.”

Former Councilman David T. McCarthy, a District E Republican, is also against a four-year mayoral term. He has had signs made reading, “Keep Government Accountable. Vote No to Longer Terms. Vote No to Pay Raises. McCarthy rejects the argument that a four-year mayoral term would relieve a mayor of campaigning time.

“We have gone to a situation where the mayor is campaigning from the second he is elected,” McCarthy said. “Social Media and the 24-hour news cycle mean that everything that happens, happens in real time.”

“Our primary interest is in the first questions, having to do with four-year terms for the mayor and town clerk,” Musante said. “We think it promotes good government. It gives stability, allows long-range planning rather than short-range fixes.”

In August, other proponents of a four-year mayoral term formed a political action committee known as “Yes 4 Norwalk.” The group’s website can be found at www.yes4norwalk.com. The group held a fund-raiser at The Norwalk Inn & Conference Center on Oct. 13.

Council President Bruce I. Kimmel, an at-large Democrat, cited the city’s annual budget as one reason for four-year terms.

“Probably the most important decision made by our elected and appointed officials, including our mayors, relate to operating and capital budgets,” Kimmel wrote at www.yes4norwalk.com. “These budgets are finalized in the spring, which means every other year critical budget decisions are made six or seven months before a municipal election. It would be naïve to think these budgetary decisions are made in a political void.”

If voters approve a four-year mayoral term, it would not take effect until after the city’s 2017 mayoral elections.

“As Mayor and a resident of Norwalk, I fully support this measure because I truly believe this will enhance the great gains we have made in our city,” Rilling wrote. “But in order to assure victory we need your help. This is why I am asking you to support Yes 4 Norwalk’s effort to pass these important questions by making a contribution now to the Yes 4 Norwalk fund.”

Rilling said Tuesday that he would support a four-year mayoral term regardless of if he were mayor.